New Castle Hundred in New Castle County, Delaware — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)
Penn Farm
Photographed by Bill Pfingsten, January 18, 2016
1. Penn Farm Marker
Inscription.
Penn Farm. . The 112-acre Penn Farm is the last surviving farm of the 1,068-acre New Castle Common. William Penn, Proprietor and Governor of Pennsylvania, made his warrant in writing under his hand and seal in October 1701, granting the New Castle Common to lye in Common for the accommodation of the Inhabitants of the Town of New Castle for their onley use and behoof forever. The Common served as both pasture land for livestock and a source of wood for inhabitants of New Castle. It is held in trust and managed by the Trustees of the New Castle Common, a private land trust first chartered in 1764. In 1792, the Board of Trustees divided the Common into eleven tenant farms for lease. The first tenant was local businessman and Trustee, John Crow, who constructed a house upon the historic farmstead in stages between 1799 and 1828. A granary and dairy barn date to the mid-19th century. This tract of land was later named in honor of the proprietary Penn family and today is a combination of original farms No. 6 and No. 11. The Penn Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The 112-acre Penn Farm is the last surviving farm of the 1,068-acre New Castle Common. William Penn, Proprietor and Governor of Pennsylvania, made his warrant in writing under his hand and seal in October 1701, granting the New Castle Common to lye in Common for the accommodation of the Inhabitants of the Town of New Castle for their onley use and behoof forever. The Common served as both pasture land for livestock and a source of wood for inhabitants of New Castle. It is held in trust and managed by the Trustees of the New Castle Common, a private land trust first chartered in 1764. In 1792, the Board of Trustees divided the Common into eleven tenant farms for lease. The first tenant was local businessman and Trustee, John Crow, who constructed a house upon the historic farmstead in stages between 1799 and 1828. A granary and dairy barn date to the mid-19th century. This tract of land was later named in honor of the proprietary Penn family and today is a combination of original farms No. 6 and No. 11. The Penn Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
Location. 39° 39.899′ N, 75° 35.524′ W. Marker is in New Castle, Delaware, in New Castle County. It is in New Castle Hundred. It is on Frenchtown Road (Delaware Route 273), on the left when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 807 Frenchtown Road, New Castle DE 19720, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Greater Wilmington and in Greater Philadelphia. It is also in the American Mid-Atlantic and on the Delmarva Peninsula. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Netherland and also one of the original Thirteen Colonies.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker,
Penn Farm is the last remaining farm of the eleven farms established in the early-nineteenth century on the lands of New Castle Common. New Castle Common was a large tract of common land that was set aside in the seventeenth century for the benefit of the people of New Castle. The Common is "unique in character, and almost without its counterpart in this or any other sister state and reflecting in our original settlers the ancient customs and habits of the land from which they came". Originally the Common served as both pasture land for livestock and a source of wood for the inhabitants of New Castle. The common lands were divided up into eleven tenant farms in the late-eighteenth century.
(Submitted on April 23, 2025, by Pete Skillman of Townsend, Delaware.)
Credits. This page was last revised on May 28, 2026. It was originally submitted on January 19, 2016, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. This page has been viewed 859 times since then and 21 times this year. Last updated on January 19, 2019, by Carl Gordon Moore Jr. of North East, Maryland. Photos:1, 2. submitted on January 19, 2016, by Bill Pfingsten of Bel Air, Maryland. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
